Free Whataburger on Christmas Eve!!

Hey y'all! I posted last month about how excited  I was about Whataburger's 12 Days of Christmas promotion where they would email you a coupon for a different free menu item every other day from Dec. 1 until Christmas Eve. The month has flown by and I've eaten plenty of free Whataburger and I LOVE LOVE LOVE me some Whataburger especially when you want a snack in the middle of the night. mmmmmmmm.

Anyway, Christmas Eve is a day away and they just sent my email with a printable coupon for a free Whataburger!! YUM! They also included a link for those who didn't sign up for the month long promo, so click the link, print your coupon and enjoy your free burger while you're out doing that last minute shopping for that one special person...maybe it's me? lol. (Please note the coupon is good ONLY on Dec. 24 until 4 p.m)

Click here for your free Whataburger coupon! YUM!!

Are y'all COMPLETELY done grocery and present shopping for the big day??

Free Advance Movie Screenings!!

I found this site the other day when I was trying to find good deals on movie tickets. I know that sometimes Fandango emails members about movie tickets for $1 but they usually have a very limited amount and it's not always for the best movies out.  But now I found gofobo.com and it is great! 

Gofobo gives you tickets to advance movie screenings in your area. So not only are you getting movie tickets for FREE...you're getting to see the latest movies weeks to a month earlier than they open in theaters. How cool is that?  For each screening that is available it lets you print one pass for you and another for a guest.

Enrollment was quick and easy and they also have several sweepstakes on the site as well as other entertainment features. I was able to score two free passes to the Houston premiere of  The Lovely Bones and I'm really excited because the book was awesome!  Go sign up today!

Register Here for Free Advance Movie Screenings

What upcoming movies are you excited about seeing??

FREE Frequent Flyer Rewards!

We were all just talking about this type of deal tonight...things besides free groceries and free razors. This is a great deal for those of us who like to travel as much as possible while still getting a great deal! I just signed up for this and it took less than 5 minutes.

Sign up for the Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards and get up to 8 credits-that's 50% of the way to your first free flight. Simply enroll in the program and you will get 6 credits. Provide your e-mail address and subscribe for Rapid Rewards communications; Rapid Rewards E-mail Updates and the Rapid Rewards Report-stay subscribed for three months, and you will get up to 2 more. It's that easy!

Click here to enroll in SWA Rapid Rewards and get free credits today!!

I've been thinking of a few places lately that I'd like to take a quick trip to in February.  Where is your favorite weekend getaway spot or favorite place to vacation on a budget?

Walgreen's Run 12/20

After the day starting off in a funk due to truck drama among other things...I just got back from Walgreens and hot deals always cheer me up a little bit!

Here's what I got on my first run...I'm gonna go back after work ;-)

2 Dove Deodorants (Reg price 3.49 each)
Walgreens coupons that made them 1.99 ea plus mfg coupons for $1 off each
final price .99 ea

3 St. Ives Mineral Therapy Body Wash (Reg price 3.99 each)
Walgreens coupons that made them 1.49 each plus mfg coupons for $1 off each
final price .49 ea

2 Kleenex aloe lotion/vitamin e tissues 78ct boxes (Reg price 1.49 each)
Walgreens coupons that made them .79 each plus mfg coupons for .75 each
final price .04 each

Finesse Maximum Hold hairspray (Reg price 2.99)
on sale for 1.99 plus mfg coupon for $1 plus rebate for $2
final price FREE plus $1

Village Naturals Stress Therapy Bubble Bath (Reg price 3.99)
mfg coupon for $1 plus earned $2 rr
final price .99

2 rolls of sparkly gift wrap ribbon (Reg price .79 ea)
1 25ct bag of gift bows (Reg price .79 ea)
Walgreens coupon that made them 3/$1
final price .33 ea

total $8.51 minus $8 rr from last week's contact solution deal
spent .51 oop plus earned $2 rr for bubble bath and $2 rebate for hairspray

in the words of my girl, Anjelah Johnson...."that's how we do it..."

My first Christmas present this year!!

So the Fedex guy just delivered my first gift of the season to me at work. It's my $40 gi-normous box of Godiva chocolates that I posted about before. Even with the free shipping option it arrived 2 days early... Seriously y'all, getting something for free has NEVER tasted this good ;-)

another good site...

at first glance, i wrote this one off as more of a scam type site. it sometimes posts ads like "take a quick survey get a $500 visa gift card!" or "review new macbook air and keep it free!" but mixed in with those too good to be true deals, i've received PLENTY of good, free deals in the 3 or 4 months i've been checking the site out. I've received DELICIOUS chocolate-dipped fresh fruit from Edible Arrangements (totally free), 1 year subscriptions to Town and Country, Metropolitan Home, Out, The Advocate, Car and Driver, and Motor Trend magazines (ALL totally free), 2 tickets to see the Broadway show-"Meet Me in St Louis" at the Hobby Center, and they were good seats (totally free) and today my favorite freebie ever...because i LOVE LOVE LOVE chocolate, especially when it's free, a 36 pc gold ballotin box of Godiva chocolates ($40 on godiva.com) TOTALLY free. I'm talkin' bout no shipping fees, no taxes, f-r-e-e. I'm way excited about this one and when it gets delivered at work in a few days, I plan to sit at my desk while I'm blogging away, and share with absolutely nobody. haha. so the site is http://www.totallyfreestuff.com/ and it's totally worth checking out when you have a chance. they update with new deals every morning from monday-friday.

off topic, but hilarious...

so i really worried when i decided to start my new blog, how i would be able to get my "unique" (some may say dark and twisted) sense of humor across...without scaring away or offending any of my new readers or the hardcore "coupon moms" who might link to my blog.

i was just in one of the forums at hotcouponworld.com and those kooky moms LOVE to change their icons and avatars pretty frequently. you know it's usually pics like, "here's my kids in their halloween costumes" or "here's our kids standing by the tree." anyway, sometime's they make a racy comment or get FUMING mad about some dumb cashier and it makes me realize there are a few coupon moms more like me than i realized. so here is what the coupon mom's icon said today: "screw santa! all i want is adam lambert comin' down my chimney!!" lmao. really? adam lambert, coupon mom? really? you know...he's gay, right?

in other gay couponing news, while the majority of cashiers are either pretty rude to couponers or just deal with it but aren't overly friendly, here's what an elderly little lady who was a cashier at trudy's hallmark in memorial city said to me while signing me up for the gold crown rewards program as she's handing me my membership info. it amazed me, made me crack up laughing and probably should've offended me a little bit. "ok so here's your membership booklet, your new card and TWO keychain cards, you know, so that way you can give one to YOUR PARTNER!!" i was like, "my what?" lmao. i was all at once touched by her modern levels of acceptance and tolerance for my "lifestyle" and totally offended that she would assume a man alone in a hallmark store dressed nice and carrying a d&g man bag would be gay and have an alleged partner. lol.

easy, DELICIOUS cookie recipes

I think the fact that my tummy hasn't stopped growling for the past hour, is what inspired this post. lol.

one easy way to save some money on gifts for teachers, co-workers, (even family members you don't like very much) is to make homemade gifts like baskets with cookies, candles, etc.

here are two of my favorite recipes that my great-grandma and mommy used to make me every holiday.

SKILLET COOKIES

These are always a favorite at parties, and so easy. Kids love them!
Ingredients:
1 cup chopped dates (I used 10 ounces)
1 cup sugar
3 tablespoons butter
1 egg, well beaten
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 cup rice krispies
3/4 cup pecans
1 cup flaked coconut
Preparation:
Mix dates, sugar, butter and egg in heavy skillet. Melt over low heat; cook for about 5 minutes on low heat, until bubbly. Remove from heat; add vanilla, rice cereal and pecans. When cool enough to handle, roll into small balls and roll in coconut.


MOCHA NUT BUTTER BALLS


Ingredients
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tablespoon instant coffee granules
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup white sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups finely chopped pecans
1 cup confectioners' sugar for rolling

Directions
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Stir together the flour, cocoa, coffee crystals and salt; set aside.
In a large bowl, cream together the butter, sugar and vanilla until light and fluffy. Mix in the dry ingredients just until blended. Stir in the pecans. Roll dough into 1 inch balls and place them 2 inches apart onto an ungreased cookie sheet.
Bake for 15 to 20 minutes in the preheated oven, until the bottoms are lightly browned. Remove from cookie sheets and roll in confectioners' sugar while still warm. Store in a tightly covered container at room temperature.

great site for gifts or spoil yourself a little....

here's a great site that's like gilt.com, it's an invitation only site that showcases a few different designers, jewelers, watchmakers, hotel/vacation companies, houseware lines, children's lines, etc. each week. they usually have AWESOME deals on everything from high-end designers to brands like puma and nike.

check it out! http://www.ruelala.com/invite/bsellars

e-coupons...

this is for the newbies who might be too busy/lazy/embarassed to clip and use coupons. you can add electronic e-coupons to your kroger or randall's cards at these sites. www.cellfire.com and www.shortcuts.com

they work the same as paper coupons and deduct the amount of your total after you scan your card at the store.

PLUS if print out internet coupons or clip from the Sunday paper, you get BOTH the ecoupon amount and the paper coupon amount deducted at the checkout. the ecoupons are almost always matched up to the available paper coupons.

just thought i'd share that little tip with y'all.

Christmas Deal Roundup!

hey y'all! TOTALLY boring day here at work so I thought I'd share a few deals with anyone who still needs to get started Christmas shopping.

here's a 20% off coupon for Coach Factory Stores like the one at the Premium Outlets in Cypress it's good until Sunday Dec 13th. It's take an extra 20% off already reduced items that are already 30-60% off so should be able to grab some great deals on Christmas presents (or for yourself, Karla!) http://tiny.cc/Coach20

also, here's a coupon for 25% off at any Full Retail Coach store which can be found at most malls here in town. It's also good until Sunday Dec 13th http://tiny.cc/Coach25

here's a FREE 20 song Christmas Sampler Album from itunes. All20 songs are full tracks and not just 30second intros or snippet. It's an eclectic mix of songs from artists including Weezer, Aretha Franklin, Sarah McLachlan, Charlotte Church, Rascal Flatts, and even Stephen Colbert. I just downloaded mine and I'm about to just jammin' it at work. http://tiny.cc/itunesxmas

also, Old Navy has all of their Christmas stockings on sale for $1 (reg $9.50) they have some SUPER cute ones right now, I bought 4 yesterday and I know they still have plenty left at Meyerland and at Memorial City.

day off work equals full day of couponing...

hey y'all. sorry i haven't been a good little coupon blogger and kept up with this better. it took me a little while to learn all the tricks, how to stack store and manufacturer's coupons, how to roll register rewards and extracare bucks, how to avoid getting in the assistant manager's checkout line while scoping out the dumbest or youngest looking cashier. lol.

anyway, now that i'm getting the hang of finding the deals and making sure i do them right, i'm going to attempt to get my blog up and running. in the beginning, i may not have everything as planned out and informative as i'd like. it's NOTHING like any of the other "coupon mom" blogs that i've learned so much from and continue to do EVERY day. those ladies amaze me. they find deals online in forums, on facebook, on twitter, in their local paper, by emailing corporations, by joining every consumer study panel they can find, etc. it's mindblowing how professional and intense some of their sites are. you can check the best ones out by clicking a link off my blog roll on the right of my page. for all my beginner couponers, i've tried to at least get y'all started with links to the best blogs, the best printable coupon sites, and all that stuff. the BEST site with the most available coupons is coupons.com. there is a scrolling link at the top of my page where you can click and it will take you straight there to magically print out your HUGE savings.

anyway, for now stick with me as i slowly grow my site to something bigger and better. i'll master twitter like the moms. fan every company i can think of on facebook. join swagbucks (which i recently did and y'all should click the link at the bottom of my page to join too, super EASY way to earn gift cards and other rewards for just searching the internet like you're already doing all day anyway) join mypoints like the moms. take pics of each shopping trip. post detailed "brags" of each trip INCLUDING links to any and all printable q's. post a "couponer's dictionary" somewhere on my site since all the others have one to explain the lingo and abbreviations. for now if you can't figure it out, just comment on a post or email me at brianmsellars@gmail.com and i'll be happy to explain. also, if you like what you see so far, and/or can't wait to learn more and be a pro at saving money every time you shop, just like me, PLEASE click on the right side of my page to start "following" my blog. the more followers I get, the more exciting things will get. i'm planning to start the giveaways like the bigger blogs do, as well as some other fun stuff.

o.k before i head off to dreamland where my tired little brain (from working THOUSANDS of "scenarios" in at least 5 different Walgreen's parking lots today/tonight) will definitely dream about insane, lengthy, SCARY math word problems involving olay lotions, bogo coupons, register rewards, oop, etc. here are some "mini brags" and deal ideas for y'all from today.

TARGET
keebler wheatables garlic herb crackers on sale 1.99
kellogg's all bran crackers on sale 1.99
morningstar veggie burgers 3.24
morningstar veggie chix patties 3.24
morningstar vegetarian buffalo wings 3.44
morningstar veggie beef crumbles 2.99
reese's dark pb cups .64 (i'm addicted! they're my favorite "filler" in any deal
swiss miss cocoa .97 x 3
whisker lickin's cat treats .88 x 2
friskies party mix cat treats 1.24 x 4
beggin' strips canadian bacon dog treats 2.59
ge cfl 13w light bulb 2.39
3 american greeting's cards .99 x 3
purina cat chow indoor cat 3.5 lb bag 3.99
edwards key lime pie slices 1.90

23 items, total with sale prices-$41
minus 12.50 in target coupons from target.com
minus 23 in mfr coupons
total spent $5.50
savings of 87%


HALLMARK GOLD CROWN
4 rolls of wrapping paper 4.99 each, but promo buy one get 2nd for .99
so 9.98 + 1.98 = 11.96
one spool of burlap ribbon 3.99
one pinecone package ornament 1.49

total w/ promo prices 17.44 minus 15 (3 ip $5 off $5 (did 3 transactions)) = 2.44
total spent $2.44
retail value $25.44
savings of 90.4%

WALMART
snuggle dryer sheets 40ct 1.87
-2q from 12/6 chronicle
general foods intl vanilla bean latte 2.68
-2q internet print
hormel compleats chicken n dumplings 1.98
-1q chronicle
moisturizing gloves 2
schick st3 disposable razors 12ct 1.97
-2q chronicle
all you magazine 2.24 (TONS of q's in it, so totally pd for itself)
meox mix market select cat food .48 x 4
-1q chronicle
michelina's chicken littles tv dinner .92 x 2
orowheat multi grain sandwich thin sliced buns 2.50
-.55q chronicle
turkey/cheddar lunchables 1.25
-.55q chronicle
14 items
total value $16.01
minus 9.10 q's
spent 6.91
savings of 57% (not my best but grabbed a few things I needed that I didn't have q's for :-( plus it's still almost 60% less than what I used to spend when I'd run in Walmart just to "grab a few things")

good night y'all!! will post the first 4 of my Walgreen's 4day sale trips tomorrow night. that sale is AWESOME!

Whataburger 12 days of Christmas!!

it's not too late to sign up for whataburger's email list to start receiving a coupon every other day in December for FREE FOOD!! mmmmmm. The promotion runs from 12/1 to 12/23 and I'm very excited! I love me some Whataburger. Especially a Whataburger with bacon on Texas toast in the middle of the night....you can't beat it. haha.

go http://www.whataburger.com/news_subscribe.php to sign up or http://www.whataburger.com/news_release_details.php?nid=145 for more details!

walgreens olay body deal!!!

walgreens has olay body wash (the smaller 10 oz) on sale for $2.99.
used-$1 off olay bar pack, body wash or in shower lotion (exp 11/30/09) p&g 11/1/09 (used for the body wash)

they also have a promotion going that is buy one olay body lotion (the larger 20.2 oz) on sale for $7.99 get a free olay in shower lotion ($4.99)

used-$1 off olay bar pack, body wash or in shower lotion (exp 11/30/09) p&g 11/1/09 (used this q for the in shower lotion)

then I used-olay body lotion free wyb ANY olay body wash (excludes trial size) p&g 11/29/09 (this one took off $7.99 for the large body lotion.)

so total is .99 plus tax for $15.97 of olay body products.

that's a sweet deal. happy shopping y'all!

mega monday

so i woke up today and it was absolutely gorgeous outside! i decided to start my day early and catch up on my couponing before work and on my lunch break today. i wanted a few more mega deals from kroger since i've been getting some AWESOME deals this week! i also wanted the glade and kellogg's deals from target and a few deals from walgreen's. i thought...gorgeous day, great deals, free stuff...what a way to start my week and my work day! sure to keep me in a good mood all day long.

first stop-target at westheimer and fondren. forgot my kelloggs coupons so got 5 glade holders and 5 refills. few other random items. headed to check out. she rang everything up, gave me my two gift cards, i handed over my coupons. "we can only take one of the free refill coupons" i argued. she called the manager. manager argued. i gave up told them to cancel entire transaction. left with nothing and began my commute to work in a bad mood. OOP-$0.00

second stop-walgreens on w. gray on my lunch break-read online all day about the almay moneymaker deals and the lubriderm mm deals. couldn't find diabetes mag with lubriderm q's at any of the three wags i searched. grabbed a few random things and the almay stuff. checked out. the almay wasnt bogo but it was buy one get one 50 off. i didn't argue or return it. got $15 in register rewards and spent $17.82 for about $40 of almay stuff. not great, but not horrible. was headed to try target #2 when i remembered there was another wags like 2 miles away at washington and studemont. i ran in there and noticed immediately the almay section was pretty much cleaned out. i asked my favorite beauty advisor what was up and she said they were still ringing up as bogo. i ran to the car to return/exchange my purchase. all i wanted was the price diffrence between the two transactions. she and the asst manager got confused by the math from the start. lol. the difference was only supposed to be $7.50. i felt really bad for holding up the line, but here is the end result which QUICKLY turned my bad mood around. they somehow decided i had received an extra item at the other wags (i bought 4 things, they kept insisting i bought 5.) they returned 3 random almay items from my receipt all at full price. told me to keep the others? lol (i had only one other item) she hands me $23.78 and i keep the other item plus she told me to just keep the $15 rr for my trouble. i then say i want to re-buy what i returned. she tells me to grab another item for the bogo. i grabbed one more and she scans the $4q from the nov. coupon book and keys it in twice so it took $8 off. my new total was $10.80 for 4 more almay items. she hands me my change and $15 MORE rr! so let's recap. lol. my total OOP-$4.84
left with $56 of almay products and $30 in rr. i learned that sometimes when you take a chance and ask about a certain deal that you don't understand or don't see advertised and when you stay calm with the employees....and when sometimes they can't do math, lol....you end up the winner.

third stop-target at I-10 and sawyer. glade and kelloggs deal. take two. also had several fancy feast cat food bogos to stack with target bogo q's. gather my stuff, sort my q's get in a short line with a friendly looking girl cashier. make small talk, she rings up all my stuff, then tells me only super target takes target q's. i had the target coupon policy print out but it was in my car or in my bag back at work, so i once again gave up and only bought the glade deal. got my gift card. left semi-happy with that trip. tomorrow will be attempt 3 for kelloggs, fancy feast, and the 10 items glade deal because they only had holders and no refills.

last stop. exhausted after work, i decide to chance it and return to the river oaks kroger on w. gray where i've already posted my issues with them. lol. i saw my favorite cashier and asked for clarification on the acceptance of printables. she assured me they still took them. i told her about the other night with the rude manager and she just rolled her eyes and laughed and told me not to worry. cut to...me taking forever to shop. get up front, she's gone and only the u-scans are open and the helper boy is the one who called and told on me for printables last time...great! it was lookin' like my fourth failed deal of the day. i then realized that with my 20 mega deal items and 5 non mega items, that actually all of my q's were peelies or inserts or blinkies. no ip's. so i checked out, handed him my q's and waited. after FOREVER he says, "ok sir, you can pay now." it said my total was :$15.66 which i knew seemed really high. he was glaring at me and the line was getting REALLY long. i paid and loaded my car. pulled out my receipt and double checked my math. i realized it was about$4.50-$5 higher. he had apparently not scanned half of my q's or they stuck together or something. i was so tired and didn't want to deal with him so i put it in reverse and backed out of my parking spot. before i could pull out of the lot, i realized that i was right and it wasn't my fault he doesn't like couponers. i parked, went back in and asked for a manager. i let the mgr know that i believed he didn't scan some of my q's. he unlocked the drawer they go on, went over my receipt and pulled out my q's that he didn't scan (total $4.90) he for some reason (based on his "math") added another $1 q and $2 q that he said were mine that didn't get scanned. i tried twice to say they weren't mine but he insisted. i also let him know that my cats for the pillsbury deal didn't print. so for going back in and being honest, all i expected was the $4.90. he scanned my plus card and handed me back $10.55 cash.

after all the false starts and hassles. i'd say today ended up being very successful in the deals department. hope tomorrow goes smoother and the deals only get bigger! happy huntin' y'all!

different rules at different kroger stores...

i hate that for a corporate chain like kroger that it seems each store manager can just make up their own policies and rules regarding coupons, sales, etc. as someone who worked for 1o years in retail management for a large company, i value the importance of strict, company-wide policies and procedures. it makes for much less confusion and drama for customers and employees.

since i began my couponing adventures about two months ago, the majority of my shopping has been from two different krogers. the one in river oaks on west gray (i work on the same block) and the one near westheimer and gessner (i live near this one). i haven't had any major issues at either one until tonight. the super rude night manager at the river oaks store informed that they would not be accepting printable coupons anymore due to "fake and reproduced" coupons that they had been having problems with. and also that the mega event had limits of 3 mega deals per transaction. after trying to argue for a few minutes, i gave up and decided even though its way more convenient to shop there on my lunch break or after work, i'd just go back to getting it all at the store near my house to avoid drama.

anyone else have problems at a certain location?

Kroger Mega Event

So I'm totally new to couponing in general and it seems like every week for the past 2 months or so, I've hit some kind of new "milestone." Figuring out what at first seemed like the most confusing systems ever-CVS Extra Bucks and Walgreen's Register Rewards. Now, today was my first time for this big sale at Kroger that everyone seemed pretty excited about all week. Now, I can see why....I've made two trips to the Kroger right by my house and if this rain will let up just a bit I'm going to head out to another Kroger (I think mine hates me now. lol. I've had more than a few issues lately with 2 cashiers and 1 manager) with my cousin and show her how it's done. I need to get motivated/better organized so I can show pics or at least type out the deals I've done so far. Maybe tonight before bed. I used to get so excited just to watch my total drop as the coupons were scanned, but now I love to see the "percent saved" which is printed on the Kroger receipts...today's said 97% and as dorky as it may sound, I was really proud of myself!

my first post!

Hey y'all! So I've been quietly lurking about the couponers' corners of the internet the past two months, reading, learning, taking notes, and doing so much math and "scenarios" that I felt like I was back in 6th grade math class doing some horrible word problems in front of the class! Who knew when the teacher always said, "You'll really use this some day"...that I'd actually be using my awesome math skills to save some money! In these past two months, I've learned about e-coupons and printable coupons (neither of which I'd ever heard of) and I quickly got over my fear or embarassment of handing over my coupons to the cashier. Now I'm almost EXCITED to hand over a fat stack and watch my total go from $58 to $1.46.

Anyway, I noticed no matter what blog I followed, or what forum I read, there were hardly ever any guys around. So I'm starting my own blog and hope it informs, entertains, makes your day just a little bit better each time you read it. haha. While I was hoping to get a male fan base, everyone is welcome with comments, helpful info, laughs, etc. So all you dads, single guys, even you tomgirls....come along with me as I make the transition from one of the MOST carefree spenders to the most frugal boy in Texas. It's been an interesting journey so far. Got a few deals that blew my mind, had a couple of late night CVS deals fall apart after trying to rework "the deal" in my exhausted little brain for the 1000th time before checking out. Also, realizing the AMAZING feeling I get when I give my extra items to someone in need. I have several friends in transitional stages of their lives, some lost their job, some just moved, some are newly single for the first time in years. When I give them a goodie bag full of free stuff, it makes me happy to see them excited about a small gesture that literally cost me nothing but a little time and a lot of math. haha.